Dead Upon a Time

Three captives are held in settings lifted straight from fairy tales. One is locked in a chamber where her only meal is a tainted apple each day. Another is confined in a room bristling with needles, where a single prick could kill her. A brother and sister are trapped in a cell that grows hotter by the hour. Meanwhile, a menacing abductor is at large in Kate's village. Her trouble starts when she visits her grandmother's cottage in the forest and discovers the older woman has vanished too. Kate is already an outsider, and the villagers who resent her offer no help. Only Jack, another person pushed to the edge of the community, is willing to hear her out. When a princess disappears, the king finally takes notice, though the princess's stepmother clearly wishes he wouldn't. Kate and Jack must find the missing before the story reaches an ending that is anything but happy.